Rashid Minhas was the first pilot officer of Pakistan Air Force to obtain Shahadat. Rashid Minhas was born in 17th February 1951 in Karachi and belonged to Rajput family. His family and other relatives were in Pakistan Army, though Minhas opted for PAF.

Rashid Minhas was fond of going to PAF and his dream came true on March 13, 1971 though it was a short lived one.

During his first flight as a pilot on August 20, 1971, his instructor Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman, entered the cockpit of the plane and forcefully tried to take the plane towards the direction of India. But Shaheed had other plans and he reversed the direction of the plane towards the ground forcing it to crash and not thinking about him, but for the country.

Before his death, Minhas sent a message to PAF Base Masroor via radio about the hijacking of the plane. In response, the air controller asked him to reconfirm the hijacking. The plane Rashid Minhas was in crashed in Thatta some 32 miles (51 km) from the Indian border because of the physical struggle between the two pilots.